Many years ago, I was driving here to work and this song came on the radio. It touched my soul so much that I had to pull into a parking lot to listen.  The song is by Laura Story and is called “Blessings”. Her husband had been diagnosed with brain cancer in the first couple of years during their marriage.  She wrote this song years later as a response to her own questioning of her faith in God after she had been caregiving for her husband for around 5 years. Their lives were not what they thought they would be, and she was having problems dealing with caring for her husband, young family, and herself.  

I had not heard or thought or this song for serval years but last week it started to play inside my head and heart.  During this time, our lives are not what we would have ever thought or wanted.  Many of us are struggling in a variety of ways, from loneliness, to not being able to have a minute to ourselves.  We are grieving for our lives the way they were.  Sometimes we pray and wonder if we are being heard.

While I do not believe that God sent COVID to teach people a lesson I do believe that God can work through this mess to bless us. I also believe that if we look carefully, we can see that God has indeed blessed us during this time.  All of us have had to reevaluate our priorities and learn to adapt to new realities and that can be a good thing.  Last week when I went shopping, I was thrilled to be able to buy flour. I had not even seen any in the store for weeks.  I even texted my husband Jeff a celebration emoji.  While I was checking out and the clerk asked how I was doing; I said how happy I was over being able to get flour. We chatted about how different things are now how simple things like being able to get flour can make us happy.  We need to be able to notice all the small blessings everyday that God have given to us.  We need to be able to look past our circumstances and see how God is working though them to bless us and others. Sometimes God’s mercies are in disguise.  

Blessings
Laura Story
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Laura Story
Blessings lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

Gracious and Loving God, I pray that we can recognize the blessings that you give us every day.  That you can open our hearts to also see the blessings that are in disguise in our lives.  May we use this time to get closer to you and closer to those that we are blessed to have in our lives. Be with us when we struggle and with those who are struggling know.  Help us to be able to do your will doing this time.  Be with those who are working on the front lines in so many ways to help others.  Open our hearts to feel your peace that passes all understanding.  Amen

Grace & Peace, Suzanne

1 Lord, you have been our help, generation after generation.

2 Before the mountains were born, before you birthed the earth and the inhabited world, from forever in the past to forever in the future, you are God.

Psalms 90:1-2

These days we all are trying our best to comply with the new standard of what it takes to stay healthy and to keep our friends and loved ones well. Some days, I confess it can get a little old. Keeping our distance, not getting to hug or hold each other, to laugh boldly or sing in the close presence of another.

Keeping our distance is a sign of our love, but what if we added a blessing as part of our distancing? What if we started to bless the space between us? The Irish Poet, John O’Donohue writes, “a blessing is a powerful and positive intention that can transform situations and people. Whenever you give a blessing, a blessing returns to enfold you.” This blessing doesn’t have to be audible, it can be a blessing said in your thoughts. If you happen to walk in your neighborhood as you pass others, or if you watch people go by from your window, offer a blessing upon them…maybe something like “may you experience each day as a sacred gift” or “may God’s peace be upon you” or “may God bless the space between us.”

And so I offer this blessing of the space between us, until we see each other face to face…

May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make his face to shine upon you,                              and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.    

Numbers 6:24-26                                                                                                                   

In peace, Brenda

Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks.  Philippians 4:6 

In the book of Acts, we are told of how Peter had been thrown into prison because of King Herod’s harassment of the Christians. Peter was in a difficult situation. How could his fellow Christians help? They could pray. So, they prayed intently and continuously. Their prayers were answered when an angel was sent and led Peter out of prison.

We are in difficult times right now and may be feeling anxious, lonely, or frustrated. We are doing our best by staying at home, wearing masks, having groceries delivered to our homes and washing our hands constantly.  All these things have proven to be helpful tools in flattening the curve. But as people of faith, we have another tool in our toolbox.  We have the belief in the power of prayer.  

Perhaps we are not sure exactly what to pray for or who to pray for currently.  That is ok because God knows what the needs are for all of us in this world right now. God has promised to answer our prayers and we can find comfort in that promise. We might not at first be aware of a prayer being answered because it might not be in the way we expected.  Just like the angel that led Peter out of prison, we must keep our eye open for the unexpected answers to our prayers. 

Just as God heard the prayers of the early Christians God hears our prayers, as well.  Our prayers don’t have to have big fancy words. Prayers can be a few simple words. Prayers can be said at any time of day or night. There is no “right” prayer.  God wants to be in relationship with us so anytime you want to share, God is ready to listen! So pray when you are lonely. Pray when you are frustrated. Pray when you’re happy. Pray while moving. Pray while sitting quietly. Pray for yourself. Pray for others. Just pray, pray, pray! 

Gracious God, thank you for always being there when we are ready to talk to you.  What a gift that we can come to you with whatever is on our hearts and minds without judgement. We pray for all those who are struggling in this time and for those that are in hospitals without their families nearby.  We pray for those who continue to put themselves at risk for us. We pray for those who reach out to neighbors and friends daily. We pray for those who are growing inpatient and we pray for your guidance for that time when we begin to reopen. May we do it safely for all.  

In your name we pray, Amen

Marty

Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.
— 1848, Elder Joseph Brackett of Alfred Shaker Village

Oh, sure, we are all being forced to employ technology in new and expanded ways, these days. Yet, our technology as always, is simply a tool used to complete our work and achieve our goals.

And our goals have become more simple lately, haven’t they? Things we have taken for granted have become rare, or even scarce. Work and workers we once saw a mundane have now become essential. With challenges to the supply line, some of the more esoteric and fancy items we purchase, such as vegetables and cuts of meat are hard to come by, so we rely on those  more familiar, ordinary, simple-to-cook. The only fashion statements we make are the designs of our face masks.

We long for the ability to touch and embrace again. To meet face-to-face. To feel the presence and hear the voice of the person next to us in church as we sing and pray together.

We find strength and hope in moving on with our lives in the simple, quotidian tasks of life. Many of us are taking the opportunity to catch up on work we have long-ignored. Keeping the house clean isn’t just a matter of protecting ourselves from the virus, but of engaging with, and giving thanks for, that which remains in our lives.

We engage even more with the people closest to us.  Our children are receiving more than the usual attention, are they not? And we connect with friends as never before (though we have turned to physically distanced means). We have been turning to God more in our prayer life as well, yes?

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
— Colossians 3:23 NLT

Thank you, O God, for being there when we turn back to you. Help us, in this time of crisis, to re-turn to the simple gifts of life. Help us to know and show the basic truth of your love and grace. Come, Holy Spirit. Amen

(I commend to your reading “The Quotidian Mysteries” by Kathleen Norris)

Pastor George

“Strength and dignity are her clothing,
   and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
   and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her happy;
   her spouse too, who praises her:
‘Many women have done excellently,
   but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
   but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
Proverbs 31:25-30

[There are all kinds of people in the world, and a wide diversity of relationships. God has created us, blesses us, and knows us as individuals. We can celebrate some without denigrating others. This week we have celebrated health care workers, teachers, and military spouses. This weekend we celebrate mothers. What if we spent all of our time looking for things to celebrate in each person?!]

“What are those?” I asked the air as Bugs Bunny pulled out a sheet of what looked like tickets.
“Ration coupons,” my mother replied as she passed through the living room.
“Huh?”
“Hold on.” She turned around and went to the hall closet. When she returned she was kind enough to wait until the next commercial break. Then she pulled out a sheet of stamps, each one bearing the word “Coffee.” “During the war this is how we got the basics. Many things were rationed, and you got your share by tearing off this coupon. We used up all of our ration coupons except for coffee.”

Thus began a long discussion of the Great Depression, World War II, and how people coped.

Reflecting on my mother this week, I realized that she would have rocked this pandemic. I am certain that she would have, as author of wisdom here writes, “laugh[ed] at the time to come.” I can hear her chuckling, “Oh you think this is bad?!”

Mom recycled before it was a thing, made or patched our clothing, and could stretch proteins to the max. (I feel her approving glance as I turn the carcass of a chicken into soup stock). She could make a game out of mundane work, and knew how to entertain herself – and us – without the benefit of the internet. She wasn’t perfect, and she struggled with clinical depression. But her experience as a child of the Great Depression allowed her to meet every challenge with strength and dignity.

I imagine you can think of someone who would have been able to thrive in this time. Let their memory bring you guidance, hope, strength and peace. Or maybe you will be that person for another. Or perhaps, just maybe, this time in the crucible will give you a new perspective on all that may come, and in some future day you will be able to say, “This is how we made it through….”

Thank you, God, for fierce mothers! Thank you for their tenacity, grit, humor, patience, strength, and abiding hope. Help us to understand that this comes from the example of your fierce love for us. When we are afraid or without hope, rock us in your arms. When we are off course, nudge us back on to the path. When we would harm another, stand in the gap and tell us to change our ways. We are so blessed to be your children. We pray this in the name of your child, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

Pastor George